Contemporary American Poetry.

Llanas, Sheila Griffin. Contemporary American Poetry.
Enslow 2010 160p 34.60 Poetry Rocks (Enslow)
978-0-7660-3279-8 hs E-BN
Includes poems with criticism related to poetic style and technique on specific poems by Roethke, Bishop, Stafford, Lowell, Brooks, Wilbur, Ginsberg, Merwin, Plath, and Collins. A quick way to gain insight into contemporary poems and poets. Grades 9 up. Students often do not know which poet to choose when a project of analysis is assigned by an English teacher. This book provides at least two poems from each author with notes on poetic style and technique, themes, symbolism and a discussion about the poem often ending with a question for students to ponder. A brief biography of the poet starts each chapter. A chapter on each of the following poets is included: Roethke, Bishop, Stafford, Lowell, Brooks, Wilbur, Ginsberg, Merwin, Plath, and Collins. Students will be challenged to understand each poem and often how the author’s life affected the writing style, content, or themes. The colorful outside cover will attract students and often there are color photos of the poets to start each chapter. The biographical segments often reflect the difficulties the poet faced, whether emotional or physical or financial. Thus the content of the poems often held a smattering of autobiography or personal philosophy. Many poets have served as Poet Laureate of the United States or their home state. A strong addition to any library collection where poetry is analyzed. Chapter notes, glossary (villanelle should have been added to the glossary) and index complete the book. Web sites that contain personal readings of the poems are found in the chapter text. For grades 9 and up. McNicol,Lois